Former president led country through democratization and Seoul Olympics
The most underrated South Korean president Roh Tae-woo, who achieved democratization and contributed to ending the Cold War, passed away on October 26 at the age of 89. Ironically, this was the same day as the 1979 assassination of former President Park Chung-hee. Park was the first president with a military background and Roh was the last president to come from the armed forces. These two men’s passing on the same day 42 years apart seems like an irony to many South Koreans. This coincidence seems to symbolize the end of that era—the end of the military regime in a war-torn country leading towards a democracy that eventually grew to become the world’s 10th-largest economy.
Roh’s health suffered in recent years due to an unspecified chronic condition and he was recently admitted to Seoul National University Hospital as his health deteriorated, according to his family. His last words released by his family also reflected his character, despite the fact that he was hated and taunted by leftists for decades.
“I am grateful and honored to have served the great Republic of Korea and the people. I tried my best but I committed some mistakes and errors. Please forgive those mistakes.”
Roh served as the 13th president of South Korea from 1988 to 1993. Born in 1932, Roh joined the Army soon after the outbreak of the Korean War in 1950. Then, he entered the Korean Military Academy in 1952. Chun Doo-hwan, who later became the country’s 12th president, was among his classmates.
In December 1979, two months after President Park Chung-hee was assassinated, Chun and his fellow officers launched a military coup. Roh, an army division commander, gave them crucial support enabling them to take control of the government from President Choi Kyu-hah, who succeeded Park.
Roh retired from the Army as a four-star general in 1981 and entered politics. His most famous role in the 1980s was leading the bid for the Seoul Olympic games in 1988.
In 1987, South Korean politics became mired in chaos. On June 10, 1987, the then-conservative party nominated Roh as the party’s presidential candidate. Beginning on that day, South Korean liberals, students, religious leaders started to hold large rallies calling for democratization. At that time, there were two liberal politicians who tried to run in the 1987 presidential election, Kim Dae-jung and Kim Young-sam. The protestors worried that another politician with a military background would win the election against the so-called “two Kims.”
Faced with pro-democracy rallies across the country and unrest before the Summer Olympics due to be held in Seoul the following year, Chun and Roh made a deal to accept the protesters’ demands for direct presidential elections. In a historic speech on June 29, 1987, Roh proposed a series of democratic reforms, which led to the drafting of a new constitution. That constitution remains in place today. One of the provisions was the direct election of the president by popular vote. He also agreed on pardoning and restoring the rights of liberal activist and future president Kim Dae-jung. He also said that his government would remove all regulations and restrictions on the news media.
In the December 1987 election, Roh was elected president through a direct vote after the opposition vote was split between the candidacies of Kim Dae-jung and Kim Young-sam. Roh became the first democratically elected president and the first who left office after five years of his term. He kept all of his promises made on June 29.
Some of his domestic policies include the development of the country’s key infrastructure, such as the Incheon International Airport, the Korea Train Express, and the national health insurance system. These were key engines that led South Korea’s economic growth and provided strong services for its citizens.
In foreign affairs, Roh charted a new course of engagement of the socialist bloc by engaging in a policy of “Nordpolitik,” or building ties with socialist states that were North Korea’s closest allies – China and the Soviet Union. South Korea established diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union in 1990 and China in 1992, and also signed a nonaggression agreement with the North in 1991. As a result of his diplomacy, the Soviet Union dropped its opposition to South Korea’s membership into the United Nations, and both Koreas were simultaneously admitted into the UN in 1991.
The Seoul Summer Olympics in 1988 were symbolic as North Korea, which tried to derail the major international event by bombing a civilian airplane, decided not to attend. However, other socialist states, such as the Soviet Union, East Germany, and China, participated. Many South Korean experts believe Roh’s success with the Summer Olympics along with Nordpolitik helped improve South Korea’s national status while further isolating Pyongyang.
Roh was succeeded as president in February 1993 by Kim Young-sam, whose anti-corruption drive targeted both Roh and Chun. Roh publicly apologized in October 1995 for having illegally amassed hundreds of millions of dollars in secret political donations during his term as president. In 1996, three years after leaving the presidency, Roh was convicted alongside Chun for corruption and mutiny for their role in the 1979 military coup. Although Roh was sentenced to 17 years in prison and faced around 260 billion won ($223 million) in fines, he was pardoned in 1997 by outgoing President Kim Young-sam and President-elect Kim Dae-jung.
Due to this corruption scandal, Chun and Roh were forced to disappear from mainstream politics and became victims of attacks by South Korean liberals. According to a 2019 Gallup poll, Roh was ranked the lowest in the favorability ranking of presidents. Roh Moo-hyun came first with 32 percent, and he was followed by Park Chung-hee with 23 percent and Kim Dae-jung with 11 percent. Roh [Tae-woo] came in last with 0.2 percent.
Some experts argue that becoming a president in South Korea is not a joyous thing, as almost every president faced tragedy later in life. The first president Syngman Rhee was forced to leave the country and passed away in Hawaii after he repeatedly demanded that the Park Chung-hee regime allow him to return to Korea before he died. Park himself was assassinated by his key aide.
Chun, who is 90, is still on trial for the allegation that he ordered the killing of civilians with helicopters at the 1980 Gwangju Uprising, even though this allegation was found untrue by multiple government-run investigations under leftist presidents. At least 191 people died during the uprising. Multiple military commanders and helicopter pilots appeared in court and testified the casualties would have been in the thousands, if not ten thousands, if military helicopters armed with 20 millimeters Vulcan cannons were used against protesters, as some argued.
Roh Tae-woo died without the opportunity to tell the people his side of the story on the corruption scandal and other allegations that he faced due to his health issue, which lasted for more than 15 years. Other former presidents faced not-so-happy endings as well. Roh Moo-hyun committed suicide and Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye are currently in prison.
On the day of Roh’s death, the current presidential Blue House stated that it “has to review whether it can hold a state funeral” for him since he was convicted of a crime. It said that it will also review whether Roh can be buried at the National Cemetery. President Moon Jae-in did not release a statement on Roh’s passing. Leftist politicians’ commentary in the media emphasizes Roh’s corruption issues and his role in the 1980s military regime. They argue that Roh is a predecessor of the current conservative party. Some leftist media outlets are calling him “Mr. Roh,” without mentioning that he was the former president of this country with a great legacy, which is very disrespectful in the Korean culture.
It is upsetting to see how political ideology seems to make human beings forget about respect for individuals, even on the day of their passing.
